Australia
April 7 2003
Typed by: Team Amanda Bynes
TWEEN SCENE
Amanda Bynes and Hilary Duff are about to graduate to the big-time. On the heels of Agent Cody Banks' $US14 million opening weekend in the US, Disney Channel staple Duff is gearing up for the mid-year big-screen version of her quirky comedy Lizzie McGuire and is set to star in Warner Bros' A Cinderella Story. (We'll see whether she appears in MGM's just-announced Banks sequel.) "It's her combination of empowerment and vulnerability that's accessible," says Disney Channel exec Rich Ross, who agreed to end McGuire's 65-episode run so that Duff could launch her film career. "She's authentic - you won't see her on the cover of Maxim." Meanwhile Nickelodeon alum Bynes, who now stars on the WB network's What I Like About You, plays a free-spirited teen in What A Girl Wants, opening in the US on April 4 (it is not yet scheduled in Australia). "Everyone wanted this part," says director Dennie Gordon. "Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, Alexis Bledel ... but when I met Amanda, I knew she was the one to carry the movie. The boys think she's hot, and the girls think she could be their best friend."
The article is accompanied by a picture of Hilary Duff.